STUFF...... what is it good for? a.k.a Why do we have 20 plastic water bottles? And why am I keeping 9 of them?

Wow...... I do not consider us to be big time consumers, at least relative to the average US consumer... we have not bought any new furniture since we have been married...... we have no basement and no attic to store stuff and we have had several garage sales over the past few years, but we still seem to have accumulated so much STUFF!!!!  Where does it all come from?  I swear, it reproduces!!!

Since we are hoping to start construction in August, we have started cleaning out closets, drawers, cabinets and are ruthlessly (define ruthless) using this as an opportunity to simplify our lives and get rid of clutter and junk/stuff that we never use; even if it is sentimental or pretty.

I must say it is a challenge... I guess we do get emotionally tied to things; or become afraid to get rid of something that we might need in the future.   I think I inherited this attribute from my mom!  For example, I have years worth of Cooks Illustrated subscriptions... I have them all organized and they take up shelf space.  I cannot tell you the last time I looked up a recipe in these paper copies.... I now have an electronic subscription which I use to search and save those recipes that I want; yet for some weird reason I do not want to throw all those paper copies in the recycle pile.... What is up with that?!  Perhaps it is all those food stains on the pages of the recipes I have made, or the idea of disposing of something which I paid for and still value?  I do think we lose something in the translation to technology....even though the gains obviously outweigh the paper versions!

Wish us luck... we have lots more work to go.... but I am committed to doing this cleaning out.... it is a huge opportunity to simplify and part of the attraction of doing such a big project!!

Permits and Packing!

Well, last week the drawings incorporating all the changes required by the city and our design adjustments were finalized last week and we submitted to the city.  We expect to hear back in 5 - 10 days and hope that our permit will then be ready to pull.

Finding temporary housing was the next item on our list and boy did we get lucky!  Our friends Janine and Tony's friend Carole has a 3 bedroom house that she will sell in the near future.  In the meantime it is sitting empty and so we are able to stay there.  It works out great for both of us.  She has someone she trusts staying there watching it and paying rent, and we have a place to stay without having to sign a lease.  Plus it is a house not an apartment... we just could not imagine going back to an apartment!  So, the place is available August 1 and hopefully so will we!

We will have to empty out the house completely!  So let the packing begin!  I realized today how much work this move is going to be.  Today, I spent a bunch of time packing up china, crystal, glass objects of art and it took several hours and that is not even a dent in what we have yet to do....  We are going to work on packing up one box a day over the next few weeks.... we will see how long it takes and how much junk we can get rid of!  This is our time to lighten the load and rid ourselves of all the material things that weigh you down!

Turns out, the City knows.....

So, over last weekend as Bill and I pondered the newest version of the plans and played with a tape measure; we racked our brains on how to overcome the problems created by moving the garage two feet. We thought we had found a partial solution by adjusting the size of the garage and moving it back a bit and feeling better about that sent our input to Walter.

On Monday, we learned that our idea was not going to solve the problem because Cupertino City Ordinance 1737 dictates that for every residential home, there must be room allocated for 4 off street parking spaces, 2 enclosed and 2 open and each space must be a minimum of 20 x 10. Thus we would not be making any changes to the size of the garage. Do not even get me started on the number of ordinances out there! Who can keep up with all these rules and regulations; no wonder it all costs so much!

We met with Walter, our designer on Tuesday afternoon and in real time, discussed the plans and the issues caused as a result of the garage moving by two feet. As always, he got out his ruler and his tissue paper and drew out some creative ideas on the fly which has pretty much been how all the designs have evolved and we have enjoyed participating in the process at such a level. At the end of the day we got the problem solved and I think created a unique design solution, which involves, moving the front door over one foot, removing the front porch and creating a covered courtyard area in front of the door which will have a skylight to let in light and protect visitors from rain. I think we will also incorporate some type of water feature in that area.

So... assuming structural engineer is happy with the changes, we will make these changes and submit new plans next week.

Its funny, just like in life often times the setbacks and challenges you encounter while frustrating and irritating while you are living through them, often result in a better final result which is what I think happened to us in this situation.

Next up...... finding a temporary place to live.